Like My New Shoes?

So... the relaunch!

We're looking pretty snazzy, don't you think? Actually that's the reason for this post. Many hours of work by Gavin means that The Almost Daily Sports Blog now looks different. It should be easier-ish to read, and there's new features on the left hand side. Subscribe to our Twitter feed for the latest updates from the team. "Team?" I hear you cry! Yes, team. New writers have been hired and I'll tell you more about them in the coming days. We've also added a Blog Roll, and a new way to search through this blog. If there's anything more that you'd like to see, that we've left out, comment here and let me know. We'll be sure to do all we can.

Yes, there are ads, but something must pay the bills. Everything else is much better and you can now expect more updates, more opinion, commentary, videos and much more. Hope you enjoy.

Seconds, Anyone?

Is one allowed to support a second team?`

This weekend, I watched the Heineken Cup Final in the company of herself. An engaging game, it was good to see Leinster win and cap a truly remarkable year for Irish rugby. The other half had ‘butterflies’ coming near the end of the game but I can’t say that I did. Did I want Leinster to win? Sure. Success for Ireland is success for Ireland. Did I care whether Leinster won? Not really.

I’m a proud Galwegian who spends most of his time in Limerick, the home of Munster rugby and a place where one is expected to support the local team. As someone who’s spent the last six years in college there and thus with a number of other people who have migrated into Munster, I’ve been surprised by the way in which the Stags have been adopted by people from outside the province. “How can you not support Munster?” they ask, incredulously. Well, because I’m from Connacht.

To say that the life of a Connacht rugby supporter is depressing is at best a compliment. We can (and do) make excuses as to why, but Connacht’s Magners League record isn’t the best. Or even the second-worst. Yet we don’t choose the ones we love, or so the saying goes, so I will continue to support them vigorously until the Grim Reaper decides I’ve had enough.

But should I support a second team? Should anyone? While I like to see Irish football clubs and rugby teams etc. do well in international competition, I don’t know if I should support them. It’s a dilemma. Can one like a team that they sometimes compete against? Should I cheer when Dricco scores a try or when Rog kicks a penalty? Or, for that matter, when a soccer player for a team other than Manchester United scores a goal, just because I have some sympathies for his team?

Is it socially acceptable to like more than one team or is a die-hard sports fan a fan of one side per sport/league and no more? I’ve always been a bit sceptical of people who say that they like more than one team but, as Hellie’s butterflies fluttered more and more as the final whistle drew near, I wondered if I was missing out on something by being so close-minded. I still don’t know if I am.

Still Recruiting

Hey all

College exams this week meant a bit of a lull on the blog, and that lull will go on into next week probably. I'm being brought away for a couple of days.

There'll be all change once I come back though. The Almost Daily Sports Blog will be relaunched before the end of the month with new features, a new design and most importantly, new writers. If you want in, contact me for more info. gavingrace@hotmail.com

Now, back to the match. Come on United!!

Why Mike, Why?

So I just watched this trailer for The Hangover. I wouldn't watch this film if you paid me... but look who's in the video.




Mike Tyson. Singing. In The Air Tonight. Someone hold me...

They say the camera adds ten pounds... Mike must have eaten about ten of them. Someone give him money so he can stop embarrassing himself. Let's pass around a bucket.

A Storm In A Tin Cup

If you play any of the Tiger Woods games then you'll notice a Northern Irish voice as part of the commentary. David Feherty was a pretty unremarkable golfer. He won five European Tour events, made one Ryder Cup and came close at The Open a couple of times. He is best known for his analysis work on CBS in the States, where I have found him to be witty and intelligent (unlike his Playstation persona). In this month's issue of a Dallas based magazine, 'D Magazine', Feherty wrote about his feelings on George W Bush moving to the home of the Cowboys. His piece included the following extract:

"From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this though," Feherty wrote toward the end of his column. "Despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death."

Leaving politics aside, it's a tasteless joke. Feherty shouldn't have written it but he did. However, he's still as good a golf analyst as he was before he did write it, not that you'd think so judging by this statement from his employers, CBS. "We want to be clear that this column for a Dallas magazine is an unacceptable attempt at humor and is not in any way condoned, endorsed or approved by CBS Sports... "

Golfing authorities chipped in too... if you'll pardon the pun. "David Feherty is an insightful and sometimes humorous commentator for CBS Sports' golf coverage," the PGA Tour said in a statement. "However, his attempt at humor in this instance went over the line, and his comments were clearly inappropriate. We hope he will use better judgment in the future."

Media Matters for America went a step further. In a press release, they called his "violent" comments "disgusting" and said they "insulted the integrity, honor and professionalism" of American servicemen. They went on to tell CBS that they should demand an apology from Feherty, even though the joke was not made on a CBS telecast but in a non-CBS related magazine.

Feherty's judgement is lacking here, that's fine. But the shit storm that has erupted around this case is ridiculous, surely. Feherty expressed his opinion in the form of a joke, something that's done on countless other TV and radio shows across America and the world.

Here's something that's not promoted as much as Feherty's gaffes and alcohol troubles. Though Irish -born, he has become a naturalized American citizen and has travelled to Iraq on two separate occasions to be with the troops. He works with them as part of the 'Troops First Foundation' which aims to raise $15m for troops who lose limbs in service. He's someone who doesn't give lip-service to American troops but gives up his own time and money to thank them for the service he obviously appreciates. So when CBS and Media Matters America are quick to lash Feherty, they should in truth take a moment to realise that though they disagree with the sentiment behind his quip, this so-so golfer from Bangor knows a lot more about the sentiments of the troops serving in Baghdad than most.

And for the record, he commended George W and Laura for their decision to move to Dallas.

* * *

EDIT: David Feherty has apologised for the remarks referred to in the above article.

Scary GP2 Crash

Just saw this crash on Setanta's coverage of the GP2 race from Barcelona this afternoon. Lucas Di Grassi and Alvaro Parente come together about 45 seconds into this video but luckily both are OK. Di Grassi is a lucky boy...



Note: One can never know for sure how long FOM leave these things available online so if this doesn't work for you in the coming days, leave a comment and I'll see if I can fix it.

Merci Dider

Three valid penalty claims turned down + a last minute goal from Iniesta + a rightly stubborn ref who refuses to bow from pressure exerted by Chelsea players + capitulating in front of your own fans + more Champions League failure = An angry Didier Drogba



You know what Dider, three things tonight were disgraceful:

The fact that SKY replayed you cursing into the camera. That was funny but it was a disgraceful mistake.

The lack of respect for the referee from the Chelsea players and staff who surrounded him both before and after the final whistle. Panalties weren't given that should have been, sure, but Michael Ballack deserves a long, long ban for what he did, as do you.

And, thirdly, Didier, perhaps most disgraceful of all was you calling anyone a disgrace. If your reputation precedes you and you don't get penalties when you go down in the area, don't be surprised. You only have yourself to blame.

I have a cunning plan....

1:16 a.m. is always the best time for brainwaves... I’ve found. Well, I’ve found that just now. So it’s simple. I’m going to revamp this blog and make it meaningful. There is a niche and a void for a well-written, funny, articulate sports blog based in Ireland. I want this blog to fill that void. I have ideas but I’m open to more. The first and main one is I want new writers to comment (mainly) on sport and to drive visitors to the site. I won’t pay you – I can’t. But if you’re looking for something to do with your time now that the economy is gone down the shitter then this is it. The Almost Daily Sports Blog is set for a post-exam overhaul. Trust me, this bland space you see before you will take off in the near future. I guarantee it. Join me for the ride.

Advice

The best thing about sport is the feeling of community. When you cheer for your country, you know that you're cheering with hundreds of thousands others. There's a shared hope, and then either a shared delight or despair.

That's on a wider level. One of the other ways in which this works is on a more micro level when you can share these experience with friends, family and loved ones. Not just the events themselves but also the events around them - the travelling to and from, the anticipation before an event and the analysis afterwards.

It's nice when you find someone new to share this with. A colleague in work also likes American Football, someone in school will too get up at 7:00 to watch Formula 1, a new girlfriend will travel to Dublin to go boxing with you.

These people make enjoying sport possible. Matches, fights, games and races watched alone lack the communal element. Cherish these people. Don't be alone. It's no fun.

Say It Ain't So Lewis

Many sports require a world-wide star to thrive. Look at golf. As I’ve blogged about before, it is a sport that needs Tiger Woods and suffers dramatically without him. That was backed up by the US TV Ratings for the Bay Hill Invitational last week, won by Tiger Woods, which were the highest since last June’s U.S. Open, won by Tiger Woods. I also feel that it’s no co-incidence that the heydays of heavyweight boxing were the 1930s/1940s and the 1960s/1970s which were the eras of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali.

Another sport which requires a star is Formula 1. More so than golf, boxing, tennis or perhaps any other sport, Formula 1 is personality driven due to the fact that there are so few competitors. From Senna to Schumacher to Hamilton, it is a sport that has been led by one man or another throughout my lifetime and for many years before that. There is no doubt, that in Western Europe at least, Lewis Hamilton is the sport’s most important figure. It is because of this that this week’s scandal has been of such major importance.

For those of you who’ve not been paying attention, Lewis Hamilton has been retrospectively disqualified from last week’s Australian Grand Prix for lying to stewards who were investigating a late-race overtaking manoeuvre which occurred under safety car conditions. Hamilton and McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan claimed that he had not been instructed to allow Toyota’s Jarno Trulli past, when the team’s radio clearly indicated that he had been. McLaren have suspended Ryan for his part in this debacle – whoop-de-doo. But where is the action against Hamilton?

The stewards have disqualified him but the team are, unsurprisingly, shying away from sanctioning the man who led them to a World Championship last year. Should they? Well, anyone who has listened to the team radio would clearly recognise that he was fully aware that he was told to allow Trulli past. Yet he claimed, in front of the sport’s governing bodies, that he was innocent. Disgraceful is not the word. Hamilton is a duplicitous little shit who has told a bare-faced lie. Now he wouldn’t be the first Formula 1 driver to cheat. He wouldn’t be the first World Champion. And this story, due to it’s technical nature, may have bypassed the vast majority of sports fans but within the sport his image has been tarnished. This writer has lost a lot of respect for a driver he once admired.